A Twilight Christmas
by FrostyAngelSpoon
Summary: What do a cookie cutter, the quadratic equation and a blizzard have in common? Christmas! Can the Cullens survive the excitement of the Holiday season? And what is up with Jacob and Nessie? A humorous story of love, wonder and snow! R&R
1. A Partridge in a Pear Tree

Disclaimer - I do not own any of the products in this story.

Chapter 1

A Partridge in a Pear Tree!

"Jacob Abram Black, don't you dare." I warned with daggers in my voice as I stirred caramel with enough force and speed to make small children run away in fear.

Innocently, Jacob looked over at me, swallowing a reindeer shaped cookie whole. I glared through his phony smile. Looking back to the stove, I rolled my eyes. "Oh, com'mon, that was not a middle name offence!" he protested. I noticed he proceeded to take a piece of fudge and shove it in his mouth. A low growl rumbled from my throat and I snapped my teeth in his general direction.

"Behave!" I ordered. His face fell and he lumbered over to Renesmee, who sat at the table surrounded by cookie cutters and dough.

Nessie looked as if she had been attacked by a flour blizzard; her face, hands, hair and clothes were streaked with the fine white powder. Jacob stuck his head over her shoulder, just in time to for a poof of flour fly into his face. He sneezed in unison with Renesmee, his deep whooping sneeze chorusing with her high soprano one. Two streaks of flour flamed up both their noses from the sneezes. They looked like two very large skunks. Renesmee laughed as he gently brushed the white powered off her forehead. When Jacob had certified a flour free forehead, he kissed it gently.

A serious look crossed her face. Renesmee blinked a few times, as if she was deciding what to think of his gesture. She seemed to dismiss her thoughts as she leaned her head against Jacob's cheek.

I watched from my peripheral vision as Jacob reached over my daughter to help her roll out cookie dough. I sighed. While her growing noticeably slowed after the first year, she still grew up so fast. This was her fourth Christmas, yet she looked about fifteen. Her maturity surpassed her, as she reasoned like an adult. She was the world to Edward and me. I was coming to terms with her inevitable future with Jacob.

While I wandered in my dream world, the caramel began to snarl like five underfed baby lions in captivity. "Nessa, Jacob, I need one of you!"

Seeming to sense that the life of my caramel was on the line, they both jumped into action. However, they jumped up at the same time; resulting in a major Nessa/Jacob head collision. An audible crack rang around the kitchen as the table rocked; cookie cutters, measuring instruments and ingredients clattered to the floor and slid to every corner of the room. Jacob, in apparent agony, screamed incoherent slurs as he staggered around the kitchen, clutching his forehead.

"Jake, I'm so sorry! Are you ok?" Renesmee followed him as he hopped around. She rubbed her forehead gently as she turned to me. "Momma! Is he alright?"

"Yes, he's just being a drama queen." He glared at me the second it came out of my mouth. I still had no help for my caramel. The baby lions had grown into caged circus lions, all fighting for the same steak.

The front door opened and closed and I heard footsteps in the hall. "Edward, Alice, I need someone's help!" In a half a second I felt a kiss on my cheek and a pair of warm hands settled over mine. "Hi." I breathed. "Stir, will you?"

Alice already stood behind me with crème, measured perfectly into to a cup. "I know. I'm great. Hey Jazz." Jasper stood in the corner of the kitchen. He glowered at Alice sullenly through his shaggy bangs. His arms were crossed and he looked rather peeved; probably from being bullied into hanging out with Charlie. Alice skipped over to him and launched herself into his arms. She kissed him gently as his solid frown turned into a smile. I took the crème off the counter with a smile and stirred it into my caramel as Edward slid his lips up and down my neck. Shivers oscillated through my spine as I reached up and touched his cheek. A crooked grin broke out on his face. My caramel made a content purr as it finished cooking. Perfect.

"Momma, I don't think Jake is going to live." Renesmee squeaked from behind me. I broke away from Edward and turned to look at Jake. He sat across the kitchen, leaning his head against the counter, howling like a wolf. A giggle escaped my lips but I left my caramel in Edwards's capable hands to investigate her claim.

"Are you alright Jake? I'm sososososoooooo sorry." Nessa fussed as we stood peering down at him. She ran her hands through his hair, which was long enough to need a comb in the morning, but still too short to pull back.

"I think it may have slightly cracked my skull but I'll be just fine in a minute." Jacob wined overdramatically, as if he were in a bad melodrama.

"Are you sure Jake?" I stuck my hand on his forehead, knowing it was freezing cold. He flinched. "We could put a Hello Kitty Band-Aid on it…" Nessie giggled, although she tried to bite it back.

"Shut up." He murmured, glowering at me. I suppose that was the price of getting the better of him in front of Renesmee.

"He's fine, sweetie." I kissed my daughters forehead and brushed her bangs out of her eyes. "Remember, the only thing you can hurt is his feelings."

"Bella, I hate to tear you away, but I have no idea what I'm doing." Edward's voice was soft but, clear as if he stood right next to me. Renesmee perked at his words, and trotted to help.

"This looks good, I'm already hungry!" Renesmee sounded excited as I scraped the caramel out of the pot and into the pan she held with hot pads. She probably didn't need them but I insisted she use them anyway. Even though Renesmee was different from a normal child, she was an adventure every day.

At first Edward and I expected our job would be easy; we'd be there for advice and support. When she was born we assumed she had the properties of a vampire, minus her beating heart and flowing blood. Well, I suppose everyone knows what happens when you assume.

Right now, her fearless parents, Edward and Bella the conquerers, spoke in petrified whispers when she slept about her future. While Jacob had imprinted on Renesmee, we didn't want her to be bound to that relationship; forced to choose someone long before she had understanding of how love worked. We knew Renesmee noticed the extra dose of affection Jacob had slowly injected into everyday interactions. From an early age, Renesmee had been taught how Jake felt. However, Nessa was reaching the age where she was noticing the boys who were noticing her, especially at the resorts and shopping locations we went to with Alice. I wanted her to be happy, even though she will most likely end up with Jacob.

In a way, I felt bad for Jacob. Renesmee was beautiful. Her skin was a pale and warm, the color of a white peach, with cheeks and lips spray dusted a deep lollipop red. Nessa had huge eyes which gleamed a deep chocolate brown, the same color mine had been. Her hair was a soft bronze, just like Edwards, streaked with natural red and sandy blonde. Gentle ringlets curled halfway down her back. There was nothing not to love about her dimpled smile or her magnetic personality.

Renesmee was graceful, but not perfect. She stumbled and tripped quite a bit for having vampire senses. Jokingly, we called her goofs "Bella moments." She was intelligent, witty and levelheaded, like Edward, and caring and kind like me. Nessie also had a fun, outgoing, and playful. I swore she got it from Edward, yet he swore it came from me. After a long debate, we came to the conclusion that our recessive traits ended up in our daughter.

Now, she was battling adolescence at age four.

"I'll go put this on the counter to cool momma." Renesmee said softly. I jolted suddenly, startled. Mentally, I beat myself; getting lost in dream world was not what I wanted to do today. I heard the door open and shut again. Carlisle, Emmett, Esme and Rosalie were here. Their soft feet stomped in the corridor, knocking off snow and murmuring about the cold. They played human very well.

The blizzard of the century raged outside. Even Carlisle admitted he had never seen a worse blizzard in this area. All the windows were covered in a flurry of snowy white darkness, which slanted almost horizontally because of the wind. Even a vampire it was slightly uncomfortable and when I pretended to be a human, the weather was downright unbearable. Acting was by far the hardest part of being a vampire. Acting 'human' took effort because I had to remember the basics like slouching, blinking and shifting my weight. My old human habits such as biting my lip, pulling on my clothes and playing with my hair made it easier. It was these little things that kept me from going insane. Compared to any elder member of my family, I was still young, inexperienced, and fidgety.

Edward taught me the best way to act human thought: the theory of reaction. For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. It made things easier to comprehend. As a vampire, I'm a slab of walking granite. I could be hit by a car and the recoil would be absorbed into my body. In fact, I would probably total the car. Considering the recoil made things more interesting, like when I jumped into Edward's arms, I considered how he far he should lean back to naturally catch me without losing his balance, or when I landed, I calculated how much my knees would have to bend to take the impact.

"They're losing." Charlie stated sullenly, as if Christmas football really mattered. He strode in from the living room, a giant mug of hot coco in one hand and a finished plate of goodies in the other. "Are those cookies done yet Nessie?"

"Not yet Grandpa," Renesmee chimed. She stood and took his dishes. Charlie kissed her forehead. She blushed a deep red before she scampered to put his dishes in the sink.

I never told Charlie about Vampires. I figured after Jacob phased in front of him it wouldn't need explanation. We also stuck to the story that Renesmee wasn't ours, but I'm sure he never really bought that lie in the first place.

"Good news," Carlisle entered the kitchen, weighed down by a brown grocery bag. "I come bearing steak." Esme, Rosalie and Emmet followed him, their arms equally loaded with presents, groceries or decorations. Wisps of snow were tangled in their hair. Breath caught in my throat as time seemed to lapse. Love for my family swelled in my heart. Even though my beauty was equal to theirs, I still felt like I was in the middle of a Macy's commercial every time one of them walked in the door, covered in snow and designer clothing.

"Hi Auntie Rose, Carlisle, Esme, Emmett!" Renesmee stood from her chair to help Rosalie with a pile of presents.

"Hey sweetheart, are you making cookies?" Rosalie sang as she smooched Remesmee's forehead. Emmett overdramatically staggered and strained because of the stack of gifts and decorations in his arms.

"Yes, Mom's cooking the last batch right now." Nine vampires, Charlie and a werewolf crammed into the kitchen. I looked around and drank in each face. I knew some I would see forever and some I would lose soon.

Charlie sifted through a long forgotten drawer for a bottle opener, beer in hand.

Jasper leaned in a corner with Alice in front of him. Her eyes were closed and her head leaned back against Jaspers chest, exposing her dainty neck. Jasper gently stroked his fingers from her eyelids to the back of her hair.

Rosalie sat on the counter. Emmett stood next to her. Her child sized hand was enveloped in his bear claw fist. Lazily, he twisted her wedding ring around her finger.

Carlisle and Esme stood with the refrigerator wide open. Mechanically, they put away groceries. As Carlisle loaded several pounds of steak into the meat drawer, Esme rubbed her hands on his shoulder. Smiles erupted on both their faces.

Renesmee sat at the table with Jake. She giggled as he drew a stick figure dog in a pile of flour left over from cookie making.

Edward kissed the back of my head as I sank into his embrace. My eyes drooped closed and I drank in his intoxicating smell, which had only intensified since my transformation.

The close proximity of wrapping paper, family, snow and cookies screamed Christmas like a neon sign on a dark road, yet today, the 23 of December felt more like July with a sudden snow storm.

I swayed and almost lost my balance as Edward suddenly disappeared from behind me. My eyes open as Alice's voice let out a gas "Charlie!"

In unison she and Edward bolted toward him. I gasped, already judging what would happen. Everyone but Charlie could see what would happen next.

Edward stood frozen for a millisecond. He seemed to judge whether or not he wanted to reveal him his vampire speed or if he could make a heroic save without explanation afterward. By the time he had made up his mind to remain at a human speed, it was too late.

I flinched as the Charlie's right foot landed square on the sharp edge of a cookie cutter. 2.875 seconds later, his face knotted into a yell of pain equivalent to a cat that had just gotten its tail pulled.

Several things happened at once. Edward and Alice grabbed Charlie by his underarms and helped him fall back into Renesmee's chair. The chair had been vacated seconds before when Renesmee jumped, first to try to push Charlie out of the way, then behind Jacob to hide. Carlisle skidded into the room with his doctor's bag. He seemed incredibly human as he dodged people, chairs and a cookie cutter. Esme picked up the dangerous decorating tool and threw it into the sink, where Rosalie promptly poured in about a gallon of bleach.

"Youch!" Charlie hollered above all of the noise. Everyone froze to watch as Carlisle peeled the sock of Charlie's foot. Tears began to well in Charlie's eyes as Dr. Carlisle gently wiped away blood with sterilized cloth. It was so quiet I could hear It's A Wonderful Life playing from the neighbors house. I didn't want to break the silence, but I mentally sent condolences to my dad.

Jake, who peered over Carlisle's shoulder, suddenly let out a snort. He shoved his hand over his face and muttered something about leaving his lights on. He was out the door in a second flat. I heard him laughing, uncontrollably, from down the street. I looked over at Edward, but he looked as confused as I felt.

Several sterile wipes later, Carlisle and Edward stiffened. They were compressing laughter in a gentlemanly way. A silly smile crept across Emmett's face and he fought to get rid of it. This was too weird. I gravitated to Charlie's foot to investigate.

I saw it. Embedded in Charlie's foot was the perfect outline of an angel. It was a faultless mirror of the cookie cutter. Streaks of blood ran from the angels figure, almost like a heavenly light.

Either this was a hell of an accident, or Charlie was a very happy, artistic emo cutter. I guessed the first as a small giggle escaped my lips.

"What's so funny?" Charlie demanded through tight lips. "This hurts like hell."

"There's an angel…" I snorted. My lungs couldn't hold the laughter in. "Cookie cutter!" I managed to snort in between gasps of hysterical laughter.

Renesmee wandered over to me. Her cheeks were fire truck red from embarrassment. My giggles subsided as she stuck her arms around me and buried her face in my side. I stroked her hair.

"I'm sorry Grandpa." Renesmee murmured as she touched his hand. "I should've picked it up." His eyes glazed over. A second later, she drew away, back into my arms. Tears were in her eyes as she tried to hide herself in my arms.

Charlie blinked several times before he began to laugh. Nessie looked up at the sound with tears running down her cheeks. Charlie continued to laugh and he beckoned for Renesmee to come over to him.

"I gotta hand it to you kiddo," Charlie said in between gasps for air, "You pack one hell of a punch!"

"You're not mad?" Renesmee's voice was barely audible.

"No, angel, no," Charlie giggled, "Laughter's the best medicine!" Edwards's musical laugh joined Charlie's as Renesmee hugged her grandfather.

Soon, we were all laughing (except Carlisle of course, he used the opportunity to keep working.) Jake came back inside when he heard the rest of us cracking up. For the next ten minutes everyone from Charlie with a bandaged foot to Rosalie laughed like we were all unbelievably, falling down drunk.

Laughter felt good. I loved how it spilled from my throat and out into the room. I could practically see my laughter mingling with Edwards or Jakes and it made me laugh harder. But it felt so good to just let go.

R&R


	2. Two Turtle Doves

Disclaimer *I do not own any of the products or characters in here*

Chapter 2

Two Turtle Doves

Don't get me wrong, I love Nessie to no ends, but her power can scare the hell out of me. I can be just sitting and chilling; thinking about nothing, sorta like now. Random stuff like food, bikinis, or goldfish pops into my head. Goldfish make me think of the little snack crackers. So, my stomach starts to growl and the saliva in my mouth grows thicker. I'm really digging this idea of food and I'm considering getting up to raid the fridge when suddenly, the quadratic equation explodes in my brain like an eight foot neon billboard sign. I scream, because that is definitely not something I normally associate with food. I wonder what's wrong with me, because I can't open my eyes and get rid of the damn thing.

My eyes zoom in and out of focus, like I'm at the optometrist's office and they're playing with the mask thing, trying to find a prescription for me, and saying 'better, or worse,' every five seconds. I blink a few times, as if the nurse put the numbing liquid in my eyes. I wonder how the hell this doctor could've gotten a practice license because I'm in serious pain right now. I finally just close my eyes because it's not like I can see anyway.

And then I feel arms wrap around my neck and a small weight plop into my lap. The hands brush my face and the weight bounces slightly in my lap.

I'm trying to remember if my optometrist has a hot receptionist and I start to conjure an image of a blonde, Charlene or something, with a really nice derrière. Not that I was looking. Another face brushes next to mine. Curley hair grazes my cheek and cold hands leave my shoulders and run down my chest, trailing off around my muscular eight-pack.

At this point, I remember the other receptionist, a skinny guy with small hands who wore sparkly pink lip gloss. This guy looked and talked like he worked a shift at the strip bar down the street from the optometry office. I can imagine his name being "Candy" or another sexually charged innuendo… Not that I have a problem with gay strippers, but I start to realize there is no lustrous bust pressing against my ripped chest and, no ass to speak of. The person in my lap seems more likely to be Candy instead of Charlene. I open my mouth to scream because either Candy, the gay stripper, is sitting in my lap feeling my eight pack or my eye doctor is giving me a physical. Either way, I'm screwed.

Then I realize I don't remember how I got to this appointment or why, because among others on the _Things that Make Jacob Black Perfect_ list, having 20/10 vision is one of them. The only time I visit the optometrist is with Nessie.

Where's Nessie?

Protector mode kicks in as my muscles start to twitch as I strain my senses.

That's when Nessa's voice drifts into my head. _You're starting to drool. _Like liquid, her words drip in through my ears and spiral around the little gorges in my brain. I can feel her tepid, child sized, fingers weaving into my hand and her curly bronze hair brushing against my cheek. My vision starts to clear and I blink once more. Then I'm back. Jacob is in the building.

I realize I'm not at my eye doctor's office, but I'm slouched on a leather couch in the main Cullen house. At least, that's what I call it, because this is where all the action takes place. All the various love lofts around here are hardly ever used for _public_ events.

I don't have to look far to find Nessie. She's with me, which is an understatement because she's actually on top of me, in my lap. Huge brown eyes stare up at me. I blink. She blinks. I push a hunk of her curly copper-red hair behind her ear and try to count all the ways I love her. She bounces excitedly a few times on my lap before she gives me a 'so…' look. Jeez, it's just like the one Bella gives.

"Yeah," I sputter, just to please her. I obviously said the right thing, because she makes a happy chirping sound and jumps off my lap. I hope I didn't just give her permission to burn the house down or something of the sort as I follow her dancing figure to the table.

Suddenly, I have a feeling I know what's coming. My wolf senses are tingling. They're telling me to run while I still can.

There's an open math book on the table. With trembling limbs, I sit in the chair next to her. I was never good at math. In fact, I pretty much suck at all things school related. My stomach starts to churn like someone is making special stomach bile ice cream in there. Yum. Ice cream.

Bella used to 'tutor' me, when we were human and Edward was gone. Wow. That seems like so long ago when in retrospect it was only a few years. Anyway, she would get frustrated with my inattention and general denseness after about ten minutes. Hence, she would just do my math homework for me as I fixed up the motorcycles. I still don't know how my math teacher never noticed my dark, monsterish printing change into Bella's thin girly handwriting half way through the homework.

The point is, I hate it when Renesmee does this to me. Edward is her official math tutor, when she needs it. Despite this fact, she likes to try to get _me_ to teach her. I would, gladly. I would love to teach her everything I know however she already knows more than I do in the art of school. I think she probably knew more than I did when she was about six months old. I would jump off a bridge or stop the sun coming up for her but, this is the one thing I can't do.

I try anyway.

So the quadratic equation is sitting in front of me. Funny how I know its name, yet I have no idea what it means. Maybe that was a good sign. After all, many good things in this life only have a name. Like religion, or the future, or school lunches maybe …

Alright. So it won.

That round.

It looks exactly the same way it did when I was a freshman trying to learn this stuff. In fact, if I look at it right, it looks like its breathing, and like it could jump off the page and eat us. Of course, that would never happen, because if the quadratic equation ever decided it was hungry enough to eat a half vampire and a werewolf, it would have to deal with me first. Which means I would send it to hell and back and see if it still had an appetite.

"Well, Nessa," I manage to say, although my throat feels as if it will swell shut. "When you have some numbers…" I'm sweating big time. A teaspoon sized sweat drop just rolled down my neck. I watch as she starts to fill the paper with numbers and letters and symbols. The scary thing is I think it's all coming from her memory. I know under half of what she's writing.

Just then, I hear a soft chuckling from the hallway. I know right away its Edward because any other non-anal retentive girly-boy member of his family would come and save me from wrecking her education. I think all of this really loud and clear. The laughing continues. Bastard. I think that one pretty loud too, but, I try to make it seem random, like swear words pop up in my mind, unprovoked, when he's around, which, they kinda do…

"Hi daddy!" Renesmee finally noticed him. The paper is covered in mathematical stuff. Her writing is like a half a freaking centimeter tall and it's covered every white space on the damn paper so it looks gray from a foot away!

That's my freaking little girl!

Edward slides in, as if he had been casually strolling through. "Hello my darling," He says all innocently, as if he hasn't been picking my brain for the past five minutes. "Is Jacob helping you with homework?" I could've thought anything; anything to convey how I felt for Edward at that moment, but for some odd reason, bubble gum popped into my mind. Great.

Pop.

"Yeah, but I think we're both a little stuck." Renesmee can sweet talk anyone. I watched it happen as Edward grabbed a chair and sat on her other side. "We're working on the quadratic equation."

"I see why you're having trouble. It can be difficult at first." Whatever Edward. As he flipped to a new page and began to explain, I stood and went to fridge. I heard some steak leftovers calling my name. After I was done chowing, I took the milk gallon hostage and stood watching them from a distance.

It was funny as hell to watch Edward tutor Renesmee. I compared it to watching a silent film, because Edward mostly wrote after the initial spiel. Renesmee would watch, occasionally touching his hand to ask a question or mentally solve a problem with her mind power. Not wanting to be the only one without mental powers, I inserted black screens with cheesy, white words every five seconds or so _with my mind_.

I felt kinda bad for what I thought about Edward while I watched. These days, our relationship was friendly, to say the least, because we 'shared' Nessie. We moved from hating each other to an _almost _friend-like bond.

However, even with Renesmee as our glue, we still didn't stay up into the wee hours of the morning playing truth or dare and have pillow fights like preteens at a sleepover. That would never happen. Edward looked up for a fraction of a second and met my eyes with a warm smile. I guess he agrees on that one.

Times like right now I'm insanely jealous. When we're no longer equals, I can't stand it. Now, he as he's sitting with _my _Nessie, helping her with things I never could. When Nessie loves him more than she loves me, he seems much older, wiser, and composed. Then I wonder where the hell _that _thought came from because I know Nessie loves both of us equally.

And if she doesn't love us equally, she loves me more.

Jeez, I think being stuck in this house of leeches is starting to mess with my head. Maybe I should go outside and wait until Edward's done hogging Nessie.

I glance out the window and watch as snow drifts to the ground. There's about three feet of snow out there and it's still coming down. It's like there's a film crew out there making sure their Hollywood snow mix of shredded toilet paper and clear jello keeps coming down so they can get the perfect shot before I start to turn green and let out the Hulk that lives within me…. I press my face to the kitchen window. This, by the way, is like zero degrees and practically burns when it makes contact with my comfy 108.2 degree skin. Just making sure Stephen Spielberg isn't standing outside with a camera crew.

I'm good. Outside is just snow. Oh, and a rabbit, hopping across the clearing a thousand feet away.

"I think I've got it now daddy." Renesmee's voice broke the silence. I pulled my face away from the window. There's a large nose print on the glass, right at eye level of one of the leaches. I think I'll leave it for Edward to clean up.

I smile as I put the empty milk gallon on the counter, also for Edward to clean up, and wander over to watch. I leaned on the back of Nessa's chair, trying not to drool from dumb-foundment as Renesmee did some math-a-magic with numbers I didn't know existed. "Thank you daddy!" She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.

"You're welcome Nessa," Edward said. He brushed the bangs out of her face and for a second, I saw something I had never seen before. Pure fatherly love and admiration shone with a glossy film in his eyes.

Edwards's eyes flicked up to mine and I got it. It was sorta weird I never thought of this before. Edward truly loved her. Probably, well, definitely, not in the same way I loved her, but there was a chance our love for her was equal. Just like when we had it over Bella, or over what-ever-the-hell we fight about nowadays.

"I'm gonna go hang out with Jake, okay?" Like there was really an option Renesmee?

"Alright, stay inside, it's cold out there." Edward stood up and walked up the stairs.

So that left us alone. Well, not completely, because almost no matter where we go in this house Edward can still pick my brain if he really wants to. However, I try to imagine him doing something else with his spare time instead of sitting all alone in his room and racking my brain down to the last silent syllable I think.

Renesmee tips her head back in the chair, so she was looking at me upside down. Her bangs flop away from her face as she smiles an upside down smile at me. From my perspective, she was frowning, but I would never let my Nessie frown like that. She flips her head back and turns in her chair, stretching her arms up to me. I sweep her up into my arms.

Here's another thing I love about Renesmee. Her temperature. She's not really hot, like a human, or cold like a vampire. She's like a cold human or a really warm vampire when I hold her. Just perfect for me.

Renesmee's skinny arms feel perfect around my neck, like they were custom made to fit there. This really turns me on. Not in a kinky perverted way, but in a way that reminds me of what I want to do with the rest of my life.

"Oh! I remembered!" Nessie pulls away from me and wiggles out of my arms. "I found something that I wanted to show you!" She takes my hand and leads me down to the newly remodeled Cullen basement.

This place is the ultimate entertainment center. I have a feeling the blood suckers built it to entertain Nessie and Bella, because they're the only half people I see down here. At least the rest of them could pretend like they actually use the pool table; pimped out theater system; a small swimming pool; hot tub and sauna; foosball table; pinball; just about any gaming system known to man with a walk in closet filled with games; an art and photography studio; small stage with sound recording and video equipment; art and craft haven with several sewing machines and close to a whole freakin' craft store, and several floor to ceiling book cases, filled with all sorts of books and papers.

Come to think of it, I did see Pipsqueak and Mood Ring down in the hot tub a while ago, but I'm pretty sure they weren't here for the massaging affects of the water…

"Jake, don't walk into the pool!" Renesmee squeaks suddenly. I'm pulled out of my thoughts and find my toes two inches from the pool. I could've taken a dip, but I do have my ipod in my pocket…. I think Bella is tired of buying them for me. I've gone through seven since September. The buttons are so freaking small!

Renesmee's curled on the end chair of one of the leather couches. She pats the empty seat next to her as grabs a laptop, one of the eleven lying around the three thousand square foot basement.

She flips the lid up and it flashes to life, kinda like the little light in the refrigerator. I sit down next to her as she opens the 'my computer' screen. A page flashes open that I only visit when I'm utterly lost when I'm looking for solitaire. She's clicking everywhere and my head starts to hurt because I'm trying to follow the little pointer as she opens folder after folder. Finally, I have to look away because what she's doing makes no sense.

"They're not on this one." Her angel eyes looked up at me. Sadness dripped off of them. Her eyes make me feel sad, until they get a glint of mischief. "I can get them though…"

Slender fingers held down several buttons at once. The screen turns black, as if in protest to her button combination. She releases her fingers and presses several more keys until the screen pops back, toting an additional window. Clicking on the keyboard filled my ears for several seconds before she finally grins. "Got them!"

"Got what? From where?" I asked, surprised.

"The pictures I wanted to show you." I look at her skeptically. "I borrowed them from mom's computer."

I sigh and pretend I don't know where she obtained her professional hacker skills. She learned them from Pipsqueak, who was the most computer savvy hacker in the Cullen family. Once, late at night, I stumbled upon the two of them happily hacking into the pentagon defense system.

I feel Nessa's warm hand press against my cheek. _Look_ she thought and I see through her eyes. I obeyed her. How could I not obey her every command?

Glowing on the screen were pictures from Bella's old camera, the one she got for Christmas her senior year. Shots of Edward, me, her, all of us looked eons younger; innocent and _almost_ pure. Like the world was simpler back then. Like Edward and I weren't trying to kill each other every other second. Like my teenaged hormones weren't urging me to jump Bella every time I saw her… And I thought my life was complicated then.

_You and Mom?_ Renesmee's voice says as I look at a picture of me and Bella. She's sitting in my lap with a smile wider than the Grand Canyon on her face. I'm planting a sloppy, wet kiss on her cheek while sticking my hand into the lens of the camera. It's a real candid shot and I vaguely remember Quil taking it when I was still trying to talk her into coming back from the dark side. Renesmee hits a button on the keyboard and the picture changes.

The next one is a shot of Edward, Bella, and me. We're in a tent of some sort and I'm obviously sleeping, because my tongue is lolling out and my limbs are twisted at weird angles… around Bella. Edward is lurking in the background; his face is scrunched up in disgust as I'm clinging to Bella in my sleep. I start to regret that Nessa found these, both because she now has blackmail material and because the shots of Edward are becoming less frequent. I'm starting to appear more and more. Renesmee knows the story of what happened between us, but it's starting to look like we had some sort of sick love triangle going on between Edward, Bella and I, which is totally not the case.

Finally, she reaches something I can't be blackmailed with. Edward, Bella and I are lying in the rusty, red bed of her truck. Bella's in the middle, I'm on the left and Edward's on the right. Its fall, so she's dressed in jeans, tan Uggs, a green sweater and a striped rainbow scarf. I'm in a white-turned-gray from use t-shirt and ripped up jeans and Edward's in some coal gray designer sweater and kakis. We're all laughing our heads off, our eyes are squinty and our mouths are open. I'm taking the shot because of my freakishly long arms, one of which is around Bella's waist. Naturally, Bella seems to gravitate toward Edward. Her body is angled slightly toward him, so their hips are touching, although her hand is loosely wrapped in mine. We all look silly, but, somehow, normal and teenaged. If you can count one pasty white 107 year old vampire and one cinnamon brown werewolf as 'normal' teenagers.

_Did I ruin it?_ Her tiny hand rests on my cheek as her words pop in my head. I bent forward and look down into her eyes. Nessie's giant coco brown eyes stared at the picture with a type of longing. Tears brim in her eyes as her lip quiver.

Automatically, I wrap my arms around her shoulders and pull her small body to my chest. The laptop falls to the ground with a clatter as she scrambles to climb into my lap. "Nessa, you being born changed how we were before. We all had to grow up some. But all of us changed for the better. I would die without you here." I take her chin gently in my hand and tip her face up as a tear starts to roll down her cheek. I wipe it away. No tears would fall on my watch. My lips were so close to hers. I want to progress and kiss her tender lips, but that's not what she needs me for at this stage in her life. My hormonal wolf instincts will have to wait.

Renesmee's giant hot chocolate eyes look into my face as I pry my lips away from the air above hers and kiss her forehead instead. Her lips form a weak smile and she rests her head on my chest as I hold her close.

Our hearts beat in unison. My strong, deep heartbeat was the thumping beat to her soft and shallow one. Together, they form a symphony of a blooming love. Or so I'd like to think.

Renesmee almost falls asleep like that, listening to my heart beating. She's always been fascinated with my heart, even since she was a baby; probably since neither Bella nor Edward have a working ticker anymore. With closed eyes, she cuddles into my arms, breathing steady and even.

"It beats for you." I breathe as she slips away into dreams. "Everything beats for you."

R&R


End file.
